03/20/2011 - Dauphin Island Is Back

Launch: Desoto Park (Dauphin Island, AL)
Launch Cost: Free
Destination: Katrina Pass (Now completely closed off)
Distance: 16.2 miles (round trip)
Pedal time: 4 hours
Weather: 65 degrees. Winds out of the south 5-10. On protected side of Dauphin Island, current minimal, tide high at start. Water temp about 65 degrees.
GPS Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click Here.

Header Image

1) The pile of rocks now spans across Katrina Pass blocking the pass completely. It was only about 6 months ago when they started filling in the pass. Gone are all the oil barriers associated with the BP oil spill. I'm so happy to see the sandy beaches of Dauphin Island back to normal. Dauphin Island is a great place to kayak.

2) Sea Gulls occasionally stalk Pelicans in hopes of getting a free meal.

3) Down by Katrina Pass the shore birds are plentiful and sometimes the birds will let you get remarkably close so you can watch their rituals. Bring binoculars on kayaks trips down here.

4) Two Royal Terns looking at each other with love in their eyes. The mating game is about to commence.

5) Two kayakers coming back from what appeared to be a camping trip to the west end of Dauphin Island. What an absolutely beautiful day to be out kayaking or enjoying the beach.

6) In some of the pools and along the shorelines, like that in the previous photo, the water was teeming with tiny fish.

7) Speaking of fish, two youngsters were in a small boat trying their luck.

8) Out at the west end of Katrina Pass, the fish were biting as quick as you could bait a hook and cast. This little girl hooked something so big it eventually broke her line. Barely visible in the background are the houses on the west end of Dauphin Island.

9) This fellow is reeling in a little one. It was exciting to watch these people reeling in fish after fish.

10) More proof that the fish were biting.

11) While Dauphin Island is beautiful to kayak around again, there were still signs of the BP oil spill. Crews still work the beaches looking for any signs of tar balls or oil. I guess while they wait for tar balls to roll onto shore, they fish. Notice the fishing poles hanging off one of the vehicles? Or, maybe the public can motor down the beach in these battery powered vehicles now...

12) This oil rig sits in salt water, no security to protect it, deteriorating to the point that the ladder is already rusted in half. Wonder what will happen when all the nuts and bolts on the high pressure valves also break after the rust eats through them... I feel sorry for future generations as the decaying oil rigs start falling apart. I also wonder if all the oil rigs near the shore have been constructed to withstand a tsunami wave. After all, the Gulf of Mexico is subject to earthquakes... You did know there was an earthquake just south of Mobile Bay not long ago, right? With oil companies ignorantly manipulating the inner contents of the earth, who knows what is next...